Tiger McLuen is president of Youth Leadership, an organization that trains and equips leaders, and author of The Student Leadership Training Manual. A popular conference speaker and adjunct faculty member at Bethel Seminary, Tiger has a passion for developing leaders.

As director of staff development at The Highway Community, Steve Saccone spends much of his time developing next-generation leaders. He’s author of Protégé: Developing Your Next Generation of Church Leaders.

Youth ministry veteran Duffy Robbins is a respected speaker and youth ministry professor at Eastern University. He is author of numerous books, including his latest, Building a Youth Ministry that Builds Disciples: A Small Book About a Big Idea.

As a youth worker, Denise Van Eck trained about 75 student leaders a year using a curriculum that’s been published as Leadership 101: An Interactive Leadership Development Guide for Students. Now working as a church consultant, she continues to help others develop healthy leadership structures.

YouthWorker Journal: Define leadership.

Tiger McLuen: A leader is the right kind of person doing the right kind of stuff for the right reasons. The right kind of person means being the person God wants you to be. Doing the right stuff is doing something that makes a difference.

Steve Saccone: It’s taking something to the next level. Leaders are driven to change themselves and things around them for the better.

Duffy Robbins: Leadership requires followers. It’s the ability to motivate and stimulate people to embrace a common vision.

YWJ: Can leadership be learned?

Tiger: There’s a tension. Leadership is a spiritual gift. According to Scripture, some are leaders and some are not. Having said that, some things can be learned. You can learn strategies and skills, management and ways to stay healthy. Leadership is not just about what you have. It’s also about becoming functionally competent in areas that are not your natural tendency.

Denise Van Eck: Leadership never can be learned in the sense of being complete. I’ve been learning and practicing leadership for almost 30 years, and I’m often stunned by what a beginner I feel [that I am]. The best leaders constantly, actively and passionately learn about leadership.

YWJ: What do youth need in leaders?

Tiger: Kids need loving leaders to be the God people in their lives who declare, “We’re going to have a God perspective.”

Steve: Presence and affirmation. Youth need acceptance at the deepest level of who they are.

Duffy: Integrity, an incarnational commitment to people, and a growing, vibrant faith—if I want to reproduce a growing Christian, I have to be one.

YWJ: Why is it important for leaders to train other leaders?

Steve: I don’t think anyone should walk the journey alone. When I read the Book of Acts, there’s a constancy of investment in others. Training and equipping can look different, but it’s life-long. If we want the kingdom to be optimized, we’ll invest in others.

Duffy: Otherwise, you become a dynasty. Leaders who aren’t reproducing are making themselves irreplaceable. They’re not nurturing the good of the movement long-term. When they’re gone, the ministry is gone.

YWJ: Student leadership is one way to train other leaders. What is student leadership?

Tiger: Student leadership is an intentional plan by the youth leader that creates specific opportunities to develop their spiritual and leadership lives. Often, leadership has become a program where we teach people how to do a function. If any student leadership training forgets discipleship, we’re in trouble.

Denise: Student leadership is the beginning of one’s leadership journey. Every student should be studying leadership. We participate in leadership relationships every day. Sometimes we’re leaders; sometimes we’re followers. It’s important that students get quality learning and practice in those relationships as early as possible. By the time students reach middle or high school, the learning and practice should be intentional.

YWJ: What should youth workers look for in student leaders?

Tiger: Spiritual interest, though I’m not saying they have to be mature believers.

Steve: A drive to bring positive change—someone who’s growing in character.

Duffy: I was really influenced by the ministry of Navigators and the book Born to Reproduce by Dawson Trotman. The Navigators use the acronym FAT:

Faithful to Christ.
Available: Sometimes kids are so involved in everything, they don’t have time to be involved in youth group.
Teachable: Student leaders have to be willing to be trained. That’s who you call.

Denise: Every person has potential for leadership of some kind. Once you redefine leadership not to be about charisma or popularity, all sorts of possibilities emerge. You start to see things in people that can be nurtured and teased out. Some of the most effective leaders I’ve worked with started their leadership journey believing they were not leaders.

YWJ: How can youth workers develop and nurture student leaders?

Tiger: Kids don’t dream because in their world, they have to be really good at stuff. So, dream with them. Ask, “Have you ever thought of..?” Encourage them, “Let’s try this and see what God does.” Create opportunities. Don’t make the mistake of thinking leadership has to be up front. None of us should give student leadership roles without giving student servant roles and behind-the-scenes work.

Steve: Ask questions and listen. Come alongside them, hear their stories, and draw out their uniqueness. Help them get in touch with their deeper motivations.

Duffy: Be a student of leadership yourself. Continue to nurture your own intimacy with Christ. Communicate your vision and values. Be willing to reflect, think and process. Give good, sound instruction. Spend time together just as Jesus did with the guys in whom He invested His life.

Denise: Leadership development is a process that involves presence, patience and lots of good coaching. There’s an art to it, but it’s one of the most incredible privileges in this life. Youth ministry programs are great places for students to practice leading. The key is seeing ministry as opportunities to provide practice, with the real deal being the real world. Too often, student leadership programs see themselves as the point and the day-to-day lives of students as competition for ministry time. It’s the opposite.

YWJ: As student leaders are developed, what roles can they fulfill?

Steve: I’m all for releasing people in leadership but to the measure of their spiritual maturity. There has to be a healthy dose of supervision—even at the ages of 16 and 17. Adults should still be there, willing to jump in if needed. Let students know, “This isn’t about being wrong. It’s about your journey of leading. Let’s correct it if necessary.”

Duffy: They can do all kinds of stuff. Start with physical responsibilities such as setting up chairs and cleaning up. Ultimately, direct them to spiritual responsibilities such as leading small groups or discipling younger kids. I’m influenced by Chap Clark and his worry about student leadership that’s about giving the ministry to kids and getting out of the way because it’s their group. Chap marks that as another kind of abandonment. That kind of student leadership is counter-productive. Kids aren’t interested in that any more—if they ever were.

Denise: For any leader, growth happens when they are challenged with just a bit more than they can handle, get coaching and support to stretch out as far as they can to meet that challenge, and have a safe place to get feedback.

YWJ: How can leaders of all kinds stay healthy for the long-haul.

Steve: Never let go of the character conversation. I’ve seen too many people fall apart after years of success because they lost sight of character. The higher up you go, the more this is true because you don’t have people to keep you in check.

Duffy: Make sure there’s a good leader with whom you’re walking. Otherwise, you’re giving and never taking. In Working the Angles, Eugene Peterson talks about the importance of Scripture, prayer, and spiritual direction. Scripture is paying attention to God and the way He’s worked throughout human history. Prayer is paying attention to how God’s working in your own life. Spiritual direction is paying attention to how God is working in the life of another and asking someone to pay attention to how God is working in you. All these things focus on God. The problem is these things don’t happen in the front of the room, which is how a lot of people define leadership, and they require quiet. Most of us think of leaders as people who get things done. Usually people who get things done are people who intentionally do interior stuff.

Denise: Most leaders understand the importance of maintaining good personal/professional balance, but what many leaders neglect is managing their inner lives. It’s rare for a leader to fail because he or she wasn’t smart or passionate. Occasionally you see failure as a result of a lack of vision, but many leaders with amazing, compelling visions have bottomed out. Most of the time, there was an inner life issue that wasn’t being attended to; not necessarily a moral failure, but a lack of developing emotionally in healthy ways. Dig deep into the stories of David and Saul and you’ll see what I mean.

YWJ: What else should we know?

Tiger: There are two leadership rules every leader should believe 100 percent. The first is: “It’s not about you.” We don’t do the work. We don’t change things. It’s so not about us. Trust the One who does it all. The second is: “It’s about you.” God’s calling us to be people of integrity who do the right thing. Just when you put all the pressure on yourself, remember: “It’s not about you.” Leadership is more than good intentions. A leader is someone who by God’s giftedness and their work moves things forward.

Steve: Leaders don’t react to their environment. They don’t manage and sustain, even if it’s good. They hate mediocrity and status quo. Everyday, they wake up wondering, “How can I make this better?”

Duffy: If you’re going to be a good leader, you’re going to have to reckon with the question of brokenness. The least safe place to be spiritually is the front of the room. That’s the easiest place to hide. That’s why the New Testament takes leadership so seriously. There’s great risk to one who’s in leadership.

Recommended Resources 
Good to Great by Jim Collins
Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels
Protegé by Steve Saconne
Made to Stick by Chip and Dan Heath
Louder than Words by Andy Stanley
The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman
In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen
Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards